The drilling begins


13 thoughts on “The drilling begins”

  1. Just wanted to give a massive ‘big up’ to Mr Bucktrout. I know all the guys are working hard but Pete, you are invaluable as the link between them and us. I’m loving your work and getting really excited now. With love, Issy x

  2. I’ve been waiting for this to begin for several years. A big “Bravissimi!” from Italy. I hope that preliminary info on your findings will be released quickly. Please please let us know that all is going according to the plans, thank you!

  3. Fantastic to see the drilling actually happening! We are all so excited to see what you find. You are doing such a brilliant job down there guys, lots of love especially to Andy Tait love from Claire, Becky, Rob and Mark xx

  4. Good luck from Canada — a place that has its own fair share of snow and ice:)

    This is truly an exciting time for science and humanity! I’ve got my fingers crossed that you’ll discover all manner of wondrous microbial life in Lake Ellsworth. That is, life that has evolutionarily diverged from its terrestrial cousins and perfectly adapted to those frigid dark depths. I’m obviously getting ahead of myself, but I suspect the real prize for science will be comparing those adaptations to the ones manifested in similar organisms [hopefully] found in the other isolated Antarctic lakes. Go Team Darwin!

    From an engineering standpoint, I’m curious how do you manage to “steer” a wobbly flexible pressure hose on a straight vertical path down to the lake? What prevents the hose from deflecting onto some random plane, or even circling back to the surface due to the curvature of the hose from sitting on the reel all that time?

  5. Good luck guys!
    I hope the pumps are ok and running smoothly?!
    Been great following how its all unfolding! Be good to see some pictures of inside the pump container…..I haven’t seen them since they were sat in my workshop!

  6. A great GOOD LUCK from me, the Copenhagen Centre for Ice and Climate and the NEEM project. I am so excited!

  7. Great news guys! So pleased to see that hose finally going where it’s supposed to go. I guess it’s been hard to bite your nails down there with those thick gloves on, but at least now the hot water drill is working. Well done Andy T and all your team.

    Fingers crossed for the next 3 days and nights until breakthrough. The whole world is wondering what you’ll find when you get down there. My guess is an abandonned supermarket trolley, several plastic carrier bags and a pair of old trainers …

    Seriously, we’re all immensely proud of what you are doing down there, breaking new frontiers yet causing almost no damage to our fragile earth.

    Reply to Jason Wilson: the hot water drill head includes a very big and heavy lump of brass that will act like a plumb bob so gravity will pull the hose straight. Or that’s the idea, I understand.

    Proud to have been involved in the project from the early days, and immensely relieved to know that the drill actually works! Congratulations from Brian Hubbard, General Manager at Cat Pumps (UK) – suppliers of the bank of 4 high pressure pumps that are pushing all that hot water through the drill hose.

  8. Good luck from Finland

    Following continually yuor drilling.

    Hopping advantageous results.

    Markku Kettunen

  9. Thanks for following the SLE Programme. @6 Jason – it’s the weight of the drill head that keeps the borehole vertical. It’s an extremely heavy piece of machined brass.

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